


Tells

by zetsubooty



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mizutani is a ridiculous lil cute, Pining, Unrequited Crush, also nosy af, lots of it from everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 12:36:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5164097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zetsubooty/pseuds/zetsubooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mizutani spends so much time watching her, it's impossible not to notice who Chiyo's watching. That's not so bad, he supposes, so long as Abe's not watching back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Potassiumer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potassiumer/gifts).



> This was a commission for loser-meganes that I finished AGES ago but never uploaded?? Thank you so much; the money helped at a time when things were tight and this piece was a fun stretch to write. <3 <3
> 
> JUST IN CASE anyone needs the warning, there is very vague mention of violence in this. Also it's set summer/early fall, so uh. vague spoilers?

It’s the last night of summer training camp. They’re _supposed_ to be in bed already but there’s kind of a party mood, especially with the trip to see Koushien coming up. Hamada and one of the other boys from the ouendan stick around, Mizutani's got a set of portable speakers, a couple people brought junk food, and Tajima brought dirty playing cards.

Hanai yells at him but then just scrubs his hands over his face in exasperation and sits down in the rough circle anyway. Everyone’s varying levels of horrified and intrigued, shy of touching them but very much _wanting_ to (except perhaps Abe, who Mizutani notices is still going over meeting notes in a corner). They decide they’ve absolutely got to play _something_ with them.

Hamada looks them over with just as much prurient interest but then side-eyes Izumi with a sour face. “Whatever we do, if Izumi’s playing, _I’m_ not.”

Izumi looks up, affronted (and pink-cheeked). “What? Why??”

“’Cause you basically cheat! You know all my tells and you’ll kick my butt!” Izumi smirks, shrugging agreement, and most of the other boys laugh.

Mizutani’s relieved to see lack of comprehension written plain on Mihashi’s face too. He waits a couple of beats, hoping he’s comfortable enough to be the one to ask. But Mihashi just fidgets with a crumpled bit of paper, glances at Abe, glances at Hamada, glances at the wall, meets Mizutani’s gaze, glances at Abe again, looks at Mizutani again with slight panic in his eyes.

But _that_ means it feels like he’s doing a Good Deed when he asks, “What’s a tell?”

Izumi raises his eyebrows at him. “Seriously? Little quirks that indicate what you’re thinking or feeling. Like if you got a good hand or not. Stuff like pushing your hair back or a tiny change in expression. _Hamada_ here…” he smirks again, “they’re barely even tells. You just wear everything on your face.”

“Do not!” Hamada (mostly playfully) wrestles Izumi down on the floor to laughter and encouragement and Sakaeguchi trying to say something placating.

Under its cover, Mizutani looks back at Mihashi with a grin and says, “Kinda like you, huh?”

Mihashi smiles back shyly and nods, then leans a little closer (not like anyone could hear over Izumi’s yowling, anyway) and whispers, “Th-thank you,” before blinking back over at Abe. Who’s now watching the goings-on with a (not entirely pleasant) smile.

Mizutani feels a funny little rush. _Like this, then?_ “I don’t think he’d’ve judged you.”

“A-ah??” Mihashi flinches, giving him an innocent stare.

“Abe, right? I mean, he knows you’re kind of dumb already,” perhaps not the _most_ comforting thing to say, “but he still likes you lots. So don’t worry!” To his relief, Mihashi seems more reassured than insulted, just nods at him with a grateful expression and flushed cheeks.

But the next moment Mihashi looks down again, picking at a bit of fluff on his sock with his lower lip caught in his teeth before glancing at Abe again. _Another one!_ But before Mizutani can ask, Mihashi looks up at him, serious for all that he’s got a hopeful little smile. “Does…Mizutani-kun really…l-like...?” The ruckus is starting to die down, fading into a debate over what to play.

He opens his mouth to answer, then rethinks. “You mean…about Abe?” Another nod. “Yep, I _definitely_ think Abe likes you. It’s _obvious_.” He pokes Mihashi’s side so he’ll laugh instead of making his worried face, and then Mihashi pokes him back, and Mizutani glances around as he tickles back _._ Kind of wants everyone to look, to see him pulling Mihashi just a little further out of his shell.

His eyes light on a pair of droopy shadow-grey ones that look oddly stricken. Abe looks away again immediately, though, and there’s the faintest hint of pink over his cheekbones.

_Now what the heck does THAT one mean?_

* * *

 

Mizutani thinks about a _lot_ of things in class that he probably shouldn’t. Some of them relate to lunch or practice or TV shows.

 _Many_ of them relate to one Shinooka Chiyo.

There’s a seating order change after summer vacation and they end up sitting next to each other. Mizutani doesn’t think he’s ever been so agonisingly happy.

Agonising, because he _knows_ he’s an open book too, knows he’s probably got a million tells that betray him. Sidelong glances during lecture, laughing a little too hard when she says something funny, clumsily offering to lend her a mix CD, y’know, just the one he’s been listening to lately, nothing special, please don't notice its near-pristine condition. “Forgetting” his eraser again so he has to borrow her Keroppi one, which just sends him off fantasising that if they were dating they could have _matching_ cute erasers. Maybe something more romantic than Sanrio characters. Imagining asking her which ones she liked in the store or maybe surprising her with _just_ the right one and maybe he'd get a smooch and then there’s a light tap on his arm and he blinks over at Shinooka, who’s pressing her lips together like she’s trying not to laugh. When he looks down, he realises he’s erased a random swath through his graphing worksheet and is in danger of wearing through the paper in one place. He blushes, but Shinooka just smiles, breathing out the slightest laugh with no hint of mockery in it. She might as well be wreathed in bubbles of light like some shoujo character and their fingers touch when he hands the eraser back and Mizutani feels like he’ll explode with happiness.

Except that when he spends so much time watching _her_ , it’s impossible not to notice _her_ tells.

Notice the way her eyes linger on a particular dark-haired boy sitting off in front of them. Notice the tiniest pink flush creeping up from her crisp white collar when Abe stops to talk to her, leaning on her desk with his hip cocked like he doesn’t have any clue what that might do to a person. Notice the way Shinooka is an expert on all things Abe-related. And that she’s embarrassed about it, too. She’s composed and contained and polite about her feelings and Mizutani is more than willing to lie to himself. But he’s got a limit.

However, a crush is just a crush unless it’s reciprocated, so Mizutani turns his newly-honed senses on the Unknown of this equation. But Abe is…challenging. Even _more_ reserved than Shinooka (or perhaps “reserved” is not _quite_ the right term). He does seem to spend a lot of time talking to Shinooka. More than any of the other girls in their class even if not any more than he talks to Hanai. _Definitely_ more than he talks to Mizutani, which when he thinks about it leaves him sulking for half an afternoon.

Just because, Mizutani starts watching Abe with their other teammates too. Which is perhaps a mistake because (not like he _cares_ ) it starts to feel like Abe likes just about _everyone_ better than him, even Mihashi.

Who, now that Mizutani thinks about it, he's been extra grumpy around lately.

Perplexed, and worried he might've misled Mihashi, Mizutani finds himself spying on them, now.

Grumpy is...perhaps not quite the right word, more that Abe seems…tense around Mihashi in a way that he didn't used to, for all that they’re both so obviously champing at the bit to be a battery again. He doesn't get rough with him like he used to, but…he doesn't touch him nicely that often, either. And when he does, sometimes he'll shoot a guilty look at the rest of the boys and jerk away. If Mihashi steps towards him, he steps back, interposing benches and walls and papers between them whenever possible. And although before, he seemed to do nothing _but_ monitor Mihashi’s every move, now, if they’re not actually talking, Abe seems to pointedly ignore him.

And Mizutani can see that Mihashi’s noticed too, can see it in the set of his narrow shoulders as he watches Abe from the bullpen with Tajima, in the hopeful look on his face when Abe comes closer only to fall into misery when Abe’s eyes slide off him, when he says something perfunctory and moves on.

It's all very strange, a bit beyond Mizutani's capacity to puzzle out. But really, as much as he doesn’t like seeing Mihashi sad, it’s none of his business. The other boys in class nine have probably got it covered anyways. So he goes back to deliciously lamenting his own situation.

When he examines the facts, Abe doesn't exactly show conclusive signs of having a crush on Shinooka, but at the same time he doesn't _not_ , and he doesn't particularly seem interested in any other girls. And Mizutani’s certain Shinooka’s the cleverest and prettiest and sweetest and just generally most awesome girl ever, so why _wouldn’t_ Abe have a crush on her? Besides, she’s into baseball, and Mizutani’s pretty confident that that’s probably the number one requirement on Abe’s list. Followed by, apparently, ‘nice skin’, which Shinooka _also_ has.

The imminent couple-hood of Abe Takaya and Shinooka Chiyo seems a foregone conclusion. Mizutani has horrifying visions of attending their wedding. Except then he gets distracted thinking about whether Shinooka would look cuter in a traditional wedding kimono or a Western-style gown and gets all flustered. _Then_ imagines a bunch of yakuza busting into the (garden? church? local community centre?) because Abe had turned to a Life of Crime to pay for the lavish wedding. But—the horror!—he’d gotten on the Wrong Side of the boss and now—BANG!—shot dead! And everyone yelling and Shinooka sobbing (but beautifully), but then Mizutani (who would, of course, somehow have a gun, probably due to being an undercover cop or something cool like that) protecting her in a particularly dashing way and Shinooka clinging to his side (now she has a gun, too) in an artistically torn wedding gown as they shoot their way out and then zoom off in a sleek sports car.

So perhaps it wouldn’t _completely_ be the end of the world if they were getting married.

Mizutani shakes his head to clear it of such images as he squeezes out toothpaste onto his toothbrush. He looks back up to try out his best “cool undercover cop” face in the mirror. It just looks like his regular old goofy face, unfortunately; Mizutani prods his cheek disconsolately, then starts brushing his teeth. _I bet ABE could look cool as a cop. Probably have a neat rugged scar, too._ Really, he can’t feel surprised Shinooka would go for a guy like that; for all that he’s abrasive and bossy, Abe’s a good guy, he’s cool and smart, and, Mizutani supposes, pretty handsome. _Can’t be helped, I guess. I’m gonna lose to a guy like that with ANY girl. Even MIHASHI’S practically in lo—_

Mizutani stops with his toothbrush poking into his cheek, then slowly pulls it out, staring back at himself in the mirror, soapily murmuring, “No _way_.”

 

The second he’s watching for it, he’s pretty much certain he’s right. Mihashi’s tells aren’t quite the same as Shinooka’s or Mizutani's own, but they’re similar enough. And they seem so incredibly obvious that Mizutani’s left peering around wondering how nobody _else_ notices the way Mihashi’s eyes follow Abe. How he flushes and fusses and chirps for more, more, _more_ of Abe’s attention, especially now it’s so scarce. How he startles when Abe _does_ touch him in a way that makes Mizutani think sympathetically of the brush of Shinooka’s fingers over his own.

He spends half a morning feeling even _more_ envious of Abe, glaring sullenly at the back of his head in class, until the potential of the situation hits him. Mizutani’s left hiding his grin behind his history text, thinking of ways he could nudge Mihashi into confessing. Right up until it occurs to him how much it would hurt Shinooka, and then Mizutani just feels miserable. But in a sort of _noble_ way.

* * *

 

It’s like lightning striking when it finally happens.

Of course, no one _sees_ exactly what happens because for one thing there was yelling beforehand and everyone was doing their best to be occupied with something else.

Mizutani probably sees about as much as anyone, and all he catches is that one moment, Mihashi and Abe are tussling on the back bench of the dugout, and the next, they disappear behind the backrest for only a few seconds, and when they resurface, they’re both _very_ red-faced and startled-looking and the fizzy static tension that had gotten both better and so much worse between them over the past few months has dissipated just like that.

There’s no more yelling after that, only soft conversation and the two of them sitting closer together but not too close, almost as though each expects the other to spook and run at any moment. And yet their postures lean towards each other, eagerness to explore the world that has suddenly bloomed between them. When they finally stand, Mihashi’s hand is still curled around Abe’s. There are soft smiles on their faces and an aura of saccharine contentment that bleeds out across the field.

Mizutani catches Tajima pumping his fist and mouthing _finally_ at Izumi, who rolls his eyes but smiles. (Then Tajima starts making other gestures which lead to Izumi gently and lovingly putting him in a vicious headlock.) He catches a few other team members exchanging knowing looks, but all Mizutani can think of is that it’s fortunate that Shinooka’s already gone home. Or perhaps not, perhaps it would have been better for her to find out about this when she had the opportunity to escape with her tears and her dignity still held tight inside her.

He considers gallantly texting her for a minute until it occurs to him that a) that might be spectacularly awful of him, and b) he doesn’t have her number.

Mizutani spends far too long lying in bed that night and imagining various scenarios where he somehow shields Shinooka from the full misery of it ( _no, don’t look back now, keep your head high, you’re better than him_ ), and of course, somehow Gets The Girl in the end. Well, mostly, he thinks about the Getting The Girl part. There somehow ends up being a car chase involved, and them smooching in front of a sweet explosion. Mizutani falls asleep with a smile on his face and has lovely dreams.

He worries all the way to school, though. And when he pushes into the hallway and sees Mihashi waiting across the hall from their classroom, pressed against the windows like someone’s going to yell at him for being there at any moment, Mizutani’s stomach drops. As though Shinooka would be able to tell just from looking at Mihashi what had happened. Then again, for all that he’s still his nervous self, Mihashi’s fairly buzzing with happiness as Mizutani walks up to him.

“Morning!”

“G’morning!”

“You waitin’ for Abe?”

“Y-yeah.” Mihashi ducks his chin, cheeks turning pink.

Mizutani smiles back at him. “Good. I’ll…guess I’ll see ya—”

Mihashi grabs his sleeve. “Ah! Mi-Mizutani-kun was…right!”

“Eh?”

“About…when…” Mihashi looks away again. “At camp…and you said…about...about Abe... And…and you were right!” He turns back with a bright smile. “So…I didn’t give up hope, even…even when... Thank you.”

Mizutani stares at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what he’s referring to, finally remembering the offhand comment. “Er, it wasn’t really… Hey, I guess I _was_ right, huh?”

With a wave, he leaves Mihashi in the hall. Though he can still sort of see him from his desk if he scoots over a little. And he can certainly see the smile on Abe’s face as he walks up to him. Mizutani looks away, then, because even if they’re in a public space it seems intrusive to stare.

He _does_ look up in time to catch Shinooka’s face as she comes through the door in the split second before she breaks into a wide smile to greet a friend.

He feels awe, then, because he’s pretty sure if it had been _him_ coming across _her_ standing close with Abe, hands clasped and foreheads touching and everything in their postures and expressions communicating all the budding intimacy between them, he’d have had a substantially stormier expression. Not be gracefully sitting down and waving hello to people as though his heart weren’t ripped open, getting out notebook and pencil and tidily arranging them on his desk like he didn’t want to scream and throw them around. Still, there’s a stiffness to her that makes him want to hug her, to reach out and hold her hand, to do _something_ helpful.

It’s only once she’s settled that she says, low enough for only him to hear, “I kind of knew, you know?” Only her downcast eyes and the slightest tension around her mouth betray anything. “And I’m happy for them, but… This kind of sucks.”

Breathless, Mizutani turns fully to stare at her. It’s a treasure, a little bit of trust that’s so completely unexpected, and Shinooka looking over at him with a wry little half-smile that says _‘sucks’ doesn’t quite cover it_. This isn’t a tell, it’s the other person laying their hand out on the table for him to see. And Mizutani decides that more than anything, he wants to be worthy of that trust.

He reaches down to rummage in his bag and finds the item he was hoping was still in there: a slightly grubby travel pack of tissues. Not looking at her, keeping his hand low, he holds them out to Shinooka. “Here. In case you need them.” No more trying to be cool, no more thoughts of how this might help him ‘win’ her. Just an attempt to be a good friend and help her protect her pride.

Shinooka watches his face for a long moment, then takes the crumpled package from him, slipping it into her desk. Mizutani tries his best to virtuously not notice the feel of her fingers. “Thanks. I think I’m okay, but…thanks.”

He makes a soft noise of assent before looking up in time to catch Abe slinking in through the door. His cheeks flame red and he avoids looking at anyone as he slumps down at his desk with his head buried in his arms. Mizutani can see that even the nape of his neck and the tips of his ears are flushed, too.

“We’re gonna have a hell of a time teasing him about this,” he says, turning to give Shinooka a lopsided grin.

She stares back at him for a beat, then laughs, reaching across to shove his shoulder. “Be nice!”

“No way!” His tone makes her laugh again, and despite his resolve not to think about stuff like that, it makes Mizutani feel warm inside. _I won’t give up hope, but for now…I’m glad just to be your friend._

**Author's Note:**

> Because of the set-up, I spent a lot of the time writing this like DON'T. MAKE. MIZUTANI. A NICE GUY(TM). AND SURE AS HELL DON'T REWARD HIM FOR IT. I hope I managed that; I feel like he's rewarded for (and with) a little personal growth.


End file.
